Anyone can write a business plan, but writing a business plan that is defensible is not easy. From an angel investor: “ My criteria are simple: Do you have a proper and complete business plan? ” Writing a defensible business plan requires: (i) Understanding the problem in the context of economics — meaning a solution and a clear path toward profit generation. (ii) A team that can execute the plan. This requires access to high-quality education and a network of people who understand the ecosystem — whether they are founders, investors, or even corporate employees. Here are some approximations (based on NIRF, admission data, and startup surveys focused on populations): Out of the top 100 B-Schools (MBA programs), 49 exist in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, and Hyderabad, and the top 80 schools are located in the top 15 cities. Out of the top 200 engineering schools, 100 are in the top 20 cities. About 70% of MBA students and 80% of engineers come from an urban background — meaning the top 20 cities — while 30% come from semi-urban and rural backgrounds. 75% of founders come from top 20 cities in India, and 25% come from outside and 35% did engineering. A naïve question could be, “Why don’t these 25% present a good business plan to angel investors and help 95% of India grow?” The answer lies in the demography. These 25% of people are not a cultural monolith, but they represent 80% of India’s diverse population. We can’t expect them to be united or feel included if educational institutions don’t make deliberate efforts. The 75% represent a much less diverse population — India’s 20% urban population — but even among them, there are differences based on caste and religion. Indian institutes like the IITs and IIMs don't publish data properly on how much reservation benefits reach the marginalised, despite being funded by public money, which means they are obligated to follow transparency, inclusivity, and the Constitution. Even among professors, caste- and gender-based bias (ranging from invisibilisation to outright hatred) is quite common. If professors are uncivilised, how can we expect them to make students civilized and inclusive? That’s another issue. Moreover, our curriculum itself isn’t designed according to Indian economic needs and demographics, which adds another layer of complexity when it comes to accessing people from 95% of India. This is a social and political issue, and it can’t be solved by capital alone. So, angel investor can't expects to find these 25% of people who represent 80% of India while sitting idle. Angel need to be actively involved in the solutions which means they can’t chase multiple domains when it comes to solving the issues for 95% of India. Angel need to be very specific when it comes to picking their industry because they have to do the work on behalf of Indian institutions. Kya Indian angels investors bol sakenge "hum bhi bana lenge" or they'll give up due to systematic barriers ?
Dear Yash. I don't subscribe to your conviction that Angels should be deeply committed to and involved in building their portfolio businesses whether they serve 5% or 95% of India. That's just utopian thinking but not practical.
Syamala OrugantiGreat, I just shared what is possible according to the situation rest lies on people's will. There are lots of utopian things people did in the history including invention of mobile phone and if we see China what it's today, it's totally impractical from western economics perspective despite it's imperfections. So, listing possibilities is the first step towards finding much better questions which can help us build better solutions ..
Dhayalan SubramanianThanks for commenting. Indian angel investors must acknowledge that systematic barriers exist in this country — not only for founders from marginalized sections of society, who represent 80% of the Indian population and want to solve for the 80%, but also for themselves. They must recognize that they can’t be passive like Silicon Valley investors when it comes to helping build India, and that they need to be specific and intentional about the industries they support because they need to do the work on behalf of Indian institution deficiencies.
Yash Pratap
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#indianangelinvestors #solving4realindia #difficultquestions | Yash Pratap | 21 comments
What do you think about angel investors in India who claim to be solving for more than just the top 1% and are looking for new ideas? From an Angel Investor's post: " If you’re building in a ‘not so obvious’ space, I would love to hear from you. . . ....
HIMANSHU KANDPAL
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Yash Pratap
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Syamala Oruganti • 1st
I don't subscribe to your conviction that Angels should be deeply committed to and involved in building their portfolio businesses whether they serve 5% or 95% of India.
That's just utopian thinking but not practical.
Yash Pratap
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Dhayalan Subramanian
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Yash Pratap
Yash Pratap
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